Heterogeneity in Perceptions of Parenting Among Arab Refugee Adolescents in Jordan

Heterogeneity in parenting was examined in 883 Arab refugee adolescents in Jordan (M_age = 15.01 years, SD = 1.60). Latent profile analyses of five parenting dimensions rated separately for mothers and fathers yielded authoritative, authoritarian, indifferent, punitive, and for mothers, permissive profiles, with most mothers (60%) and fathers (66%) classified as authoritative. Parenting was more often authoritative for women than men and punitive (for fathers) or permissive (for mothers) of boys than girls. Authoritative fathers and authoritarian mothers were better educated than punitive parents, whose offspring reported more norm breaking and internalizing symptoms and lower academic achievement than other youth. Adjustment was better when adolescents had at least one authoritative parent than when parents were either consistent or discrepant but nonauthoritative.     

Physiological characteristics of elite and sub-elite badminton players

Abstract

The aims of this study were to establish the physical and physiological attributes of elite and sub-elite Malaysian male badminton players and to determine whether these attributes discriminate elite players from sub-elite players. Measurements and tests of basic anthropometry, explosive power, anaerobic recovery capacity, badminton-specific movement agility, maximum strength, and aerobic capacity were conducted on two occasions, separated by at least one day. The elite (n = 12) and sub-elite (n = 12) players' characteristics were, respectively: mean age 24.6 years (s = 3.7) and 20.5 years (s = 0.7); mass 73.2 kg (s = 7.6) and 62.7 kg (s = 4.2); stature 1.76 m (s = 0.07) and 1.71 m (s = 0.05); body fat 12.5% (s = 4.8) and 9.5% (s = 3.4); estimated VO_2max 56.9 ml · kg^?1 · min^?1 (s = 3.7) and 59.5 ml · kg^?1 · min^?1 (s = 5.2). The elite players had greater maximum absolute strength in one-repetition maximum bench press (P = 0.015) compared with the sub-elite players. There were significant differences in instantaneous lower body power estimated from vertical jump height between the elite and sub-elite groups (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between groups in shuttle run tests and on-court badminton-specific movement agility tests. Our results show that elite Malaysian male badminton players are taller, heavier, and stronger than their sub-elite counterparts. The test battery, however, did not allow us to discriminate between the elite and sub-elite players, suggesting that at the elite level tactical knowledge, technical skills, and psychological readiness could be of greater importance.     

Efficient dielectrophoretic cell enrichment using a dielectrophoresis-well based system

Whilst laboratory-on-chip cell separation systems using dielectrophoresis are increasingly reported in the literature, many systems are afflicted by factors which impede “real world” performance, chief among these being cell loss (in dead spaces, attached to glass and tubing surfaces, or sedimentation from flow), and designs with large channel height-to-width ratios (large channel widths, small channel heights) that make the systems difficult to interface with other microfluidic systems. In this paper, we present a scalable structure based on 3D wells with approximately unity height-to-width ratios (based on tubes with electrodes on the sides), which is capable of enriching yeast cell populations whilst ensuring that up to 94.3% of cells processed through the device can be collected in tubes beyond the output.     

Andrew,Michael D & Jelmberg,James R ed (2010) How teachers learn Peter Lang (New York & Bern) isbn 978‐1‐4331‐0842‐6 220 pp $35.95http://www.peterlang.com/download/datasheet/54201/datasheet_310842.pdf

The book describes a five‐year teacher education programme at US's University of New Hampshire (unh ). It includes several research articles about what supports the programme, especially the internship (teaching practice) component, which is a full year long. The book is useful for educators especially those involved in teacher training and preparation. If the content of this book is likely to be relevant to you, I recommend that you arrange to borrow a copy for a while. Othman N Alsawaie     

Influence of expectation and campus racial climate on undergraduates' interracial interaction

In this study, the authors examine the influence of interracial interaction expectation and campus racial climate perception on attitudes toward interracial interaction which, in turn, influences the levels of interracial interaction among students at a multicultural university in Malaysia. Interaction across race is fundamental to students' growth and development. Responses from 193 Malay and 165 Chinese students were analysed by means of hierarchical regression. Results support the hypothesized influence of interracial interaction expectation and campus racial climate perception on attitudes toward interracial interaction for the Chinese students. For the Malay students, however, only interracial interaction expectation is significant. Attitudes toward interracial interaction, in turn, significantly predict levels of interracial interaction for both groups. The results support the hypothesized differential strength of relationships among the variables for the two racial groups. Implications for higher education are discussed.     

A Phenomenological Investigation of African American Counselor Education Students' Challenging Experiences

This study explored 11 African American doctoral students’ perceptions of challenging experiences in counselor education programs. The authors identified the following themes using critical race theory: feelings of isolation, peer disconnection, and faculty misunderstandings and disrespect. Implications for counselor education programs and policies are discussed.     

Application of automated image analysis to the identification and extraction of recyclable plastic bottles

An experimental machine vision apparatus was used to identify and extract recyclable plastic bottles out of a conveyor belt. Color images were taken with a commercially available Webcam, and the recognition was performed by our homemade software, based on the shape and dimensions of object images. The software was able to manage multiple bottles in a single image and was additionally extended to cases involving touching bottles. The identification was fulfilled by comparing the set of measured features with an existing database and meanwhile integrating various recognition techniques such as minimum distance in the feature space, self-organized maps, and neural networks. The recognition system was tested on a set of 50 different bottles and provided so far an accuracy of about 97% on bottle identification. The extraction of the bottles was performed by means of a pneumatic arm, which was activated according to the plastic type; polyethylene-terephthalate （PET） bottles were left on the conveyor belt, while non-PET bottles were extracted. The software was designed to provide the best compromise between reliability and speed for real-time applications in view of the commercialization of the system at existing recycling plants.     

Chlorella vulgaris triggers apoptosis in hepatocarcinogenesis-induced rats

Chlorella vulgaris (CV) has been reported to have antioxidant and anticancer properties. We evaluated the effect of CV on apoptotic regulator protein expression in liver cancer-induced rats. Male Wistar rats (200∼250 g) were divided into eight groups: control group (normal diet), CDE group (choline deficient diet supplemented with ethionine in drinking water to induce hepatocarcinogenesis), CV groups with three different doses of CV (50, 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight), and CDE groups treated with different doses of CV (50, 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight). Rats were sacrificed at various weeks and liver tissues were embedded in paraffin blocks for immunohistochemistry studies. CV, at increasing doses, decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, but increased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein, caspase 8, in CDE rats, which was correlated with decreased hepatoctyes proliferation and increased apoptosis as determined by bromodeoxy-uridine (BrdU) labeling and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay, respectively. Our study shows that CV has definite chemopreventive effect by inducing apoptosis via decreasing the expression of Bcl-2 and increasing the expression of caspase 8 in hepatocarcinogenesis-induced rats. Project supported by Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, UKM Medical Center, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and the Malaysian Ministry of Science and Technological Innovation (MOSTI)     

Adaptive T–S fuzzy controller using reinforcement learning based on Lyapunov stability

In this paper, an adaptive Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy controller based on reinforcement learning for controlling the nonlinear dynamical systems is proposed. The parameters of the T–S fuzzy system are learned using the reinforcement learning based on the actor-critic method. This on-line learning algorithm improves the controller performance over the time, which it learns from its own faults through the reinforcement signal from the external environment and tries to reinforce the T–S fuzzy system parameters to converge. The updating parameters are developed using the Lyapunov stability criterion. The proposed controller is faster in learning than the T–S fuzzy that parameters learned using the gradient descent method under the same conditions. Moreover, it is able to handle the load changes and the system uncertainties. The test is carried out based on two mathematical models. In addition, the proposed controller is applied practically for controlling a direct current (DC) shunt machine. The results indicate that the response of the proposed controller has a good performance compared with other controllers.     

Probabilistic fuzzy logic controller for uncertain nonlinear systems

This paper proposes a probabilistic fuzzy proportional - integral (PFPI) controller for controlling uncertain nonlinear systems. Firstly, the probabilistic fuzzy logic system (PFLS) improves the capability of the ordinary fuzzy logic system (FLS) to overcome various uncertainties in the controlled dynamical systems by integrating the probability method into the fuzzy logic system. Moreover, the input/output relationship for the proposed PFPI controller is derived. The resulting structure is equivalent to nonlinear PI controller and the equivalent gains for the proposed PFPI controller are a nonlinear function of input variables. These gains are changed as the input variables changed. The sufficient conditions for the proposed PFPI controller, which achieve the bounded-input bounded-output (BIBO) stability are obtained based on the small gain theorem. Finally, the obtained results indicate that the PFPI controller is able to reduce the effect of the system uncertainties compared with the fuzzy PI (FPI) controller.